All news
Green Future: How Eco-Lessons Form a Responsible Generation of Schoolchildren
Since 2023, environmental classes "The Second Life of Plastic" have been launched in Kazan schools. The first lesson was given by singer and blogger Milana Star. Since then, Kazanorgsintez environmentalists have held about 30 classes, in which more than 700 students took part. In 2024, eco-classes became part of the KOS environmental program "Your Green Habits".
"Helping people understand new environmental knowledge is very valuable for us. SIBUR has been conducting environmental education activities for many years, cultivating a general culture of caring for nature. The younger generation is a special audience, extremely sensitive to new information. "We are diligently creating an ecosystem of convenient educational formats for children and teenagers, among which an important place is occupied by the program "The Second Life of Plastic", specially developed for school teachers and students," said Maxim Remchukova, Director of the Department of "Recycling and Recycling". Development of Sustainable Solutions" of SIBUR.
With the beginning of the new school year, the teaching materials and methodological recommendations were reorganized, the design was updated, and the program website was relaunched taking into account the features and trends of school education. Eco-lessons are now also available on the portal ecoclass.rf.
The lessons are designed taking into account age-specific features and there is a wide range of materials suitable for use by students in grades 5 through 11. Each set includes a methodological manual, separate instructions for collecting garbage and materials for conducting game lessons. In addition to lessons, teachers are provided with ready-made materials for additional lessons: intellectual games, research of exciting team tasks, practical homework, eco-marathons, etc.
The methodological manual and teaching materials are compiled in such a way that, despite the presence of a large amount of useful information, preparing a lesson takes the teacher a minimum of time and does not require special knowledge. Anyone can use the materials. Now you do not have to wait for environmental activists from Kazanorgsintez to come to your school. Any teacher can use the site materials to conduct ecology lessons.
— Formation of environmental responsibility is a long-term process that requires constant participation. Therefore, my colleagues and I are constantly looking for new forms of involving children in this topic and strive to make the materials more accessible. Our goal is to inspire children to care for the Earth, nature and the surrounding world by telling them about ecology in an interesting and exciting way,” says Kazanorgsintez environmental expert Anastasia Romanenko.
She also held the first updated environmental lesson with the coordinator of the Clean Games project in the Republic of Tatarstan, Maxim Antonov. The students of the classes will attend the multidisciplinary lyceum No. 2, located in the residential complex Salavat Cooper. 188 These were students of the 5th grade of Bionics.
The main goal of the environmental lesson "The Second Life of Plastic" is to teach children conscious consumption and instill eco-friendly habits. Students discussed who environmentalists are, what can be considered waste, studied waste segments with experts and learned where waste goes and what recycling methods exist.
The most interesting, judging by the responses, was the research on plastic recycling. People heard in detail what happens at each stage of this process. Students showed samples of plastic at different stages of processing. Of course, there were also end products made from recycled materials, including pens, building materials, medical supplies, clothing and toys. Students learned how they can make a personal contribution to solving environmental problems and also learned simple ways to minimize waste at home. So the classes were not only educational, but also motivating. This led to a more responsible attitude of children towards nature.
— It is great that we cooperate with Kazanorgsintez and conduct environmental classes in a new format. Because it is very important not only to hear about recycling, but also to see for yourself that it is real. Now they are in a very active period of their educational process, and we will continue to pass on to their families the ideas and values that we have established at this stage. I am sure that we can change the habits of adults through children to some extent. Everyone would notice it. When a child participates in school events, the whole family becomes an active participant. In our case, the child will become an ambassador of the propaganda of environmental habits in the family, — says Maxim Antonov.
Indeed, the children absorbed the new information with great interest and participation and, ignoring the calls, continued to study the samples brought by the guests.
— I liked the classes, everything was very interesting and cool. “I didn’t know that you can make clothes from recycled plastic,” says Danil Nigmetzyanov. “I was very surprised,” he said.
His classmate Rozalina Khasanova agrees with him.
— We sort waste at home: plastic, glass, paper and other waste. “But I never thought about what it would be recycled into, so it was very interesting.”
As a result, the Bionika Lyceum pays great attention to environmental issues, where separate waste collection is organized, and children participate in city environmental campaigns. The school also has a separate hall for exhibits of recycled plastic hats, and in handicraft classes, girls remake unnecessary clothes for the Lyceum's costume department.
"We pay a lot of attention to environmental issues. However, teachers of general education institutions cannot always convey some nuances or show visual material, as in today's lesson, so such planning is very important. People were delighted, studied all the samples with glowing eyes and participated in the discussions," said teacher and organizer of the lyceum Marina Gaifetdinova.